Thursday, May 5th, 2011 at 9:00 am  |  22 responses

Minnesota Timberwolves Continue to Chase Ricky Rubio


David Kahn and his staff are still after the ever-elusive Ricky Rubio, traveling to Spain in their latest attempt to bring him from Spain to Minny. The Star Tribune reports: “A Timberwolves contingent led by David Kahn are spending the next week in Spain for this weekend’s Euroleague Final Four and to continue work they intend will get Ricky Rubio signed to a NBA contract within a month. Rubio’s Regal Barcelona team never made it to the Final Four scheduled for his hometown this year because it got beat out by Greece’s Panathinaikos team in a playoff series in March. But his team still has Spanish league play left during a European season that, like the NBA, never seems to end. That fact could complicate the timing of a completed deal because Rubio must exercise a $1 million-plus buyout with his Barcelona team and because Rubio and his family don’t want it to appear as if he already has a foot out the door to the NBA before his team’s season concludes. Whether Rubio will ever agree to play for the Wolves has been a matter of much discussion and doubt for nearly two years now. Here’s why he just might be ready to make the move to the NBA — and thus to the Wolves, who own his league rights for as long as he continues to play professionally without sitting out an entire season — now: His playing time and development has regressed rather that developed playing for a veteran-filled, championship-caliber team in his hometown. A provision in the NBA’s soon-to-expire labor agreement with players allows him to sign under the current rookie scale by May 31 rather than gamble on what a new Collective Bargaining Agreement might look like for rookies, whenever they might be hammered out. That new CBA could take some time. Why would he sign now if there could a player lockout, perhaps a lengthy one? No. 1: The security provided by signing under the current labor agreement rather than risk the new one. No. 2: He has played professionally since he was 14, many years practically year round because of Spanish national team commitments to the Olympics, World and European championships. A rest until December or January — or beyond — wouldn’t hurt him. His agents have been working here in the U.S. on endorsement deals that will pay the contract buyout — and probably then some — with his Spanish team that was negotiated to be a reasonable sum when he signed with Regal Barcelona in September 2009 after Kahn had tirelessly worked out a much, much bigger buyout deal with Rubio’s DKV Joventut team. By NBA rules, the Wolves can contribute only $500,000 to such a buyout.”

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  • Niio Posted: May.5 at 9:08 am
    If he wanted to play for Minny he would have already made it happen. Just saying..

  • pablasso Posted: May.5 at 9:19 am
    Who wants to play for Lwolves?

  • Caboose Posted: May.5 at 9:28 am
    The Wolves could have a future with Rubio, Beasley, Love, Wes, and another lottery pick to build on…

  • Atsushi Posted: May.5 at 10:40 am
    after 81458,5 billion articles about “will he, will he not” i just hope he is not a bust !

  • EJ Posted: May.5 at 11:12 am
    Rubio is a b**ch

  • HAMMER Posted: May.5 at 11:27 am
    I don’t care where Ricky ends up playing. Just as long as his jersey has the Jerry West logo on it

  • toinefan88 Posted: May.5 at 11:30 am
    He should do a one-hour special announcement that he is staying in Spain called la decisiona.

  • Englishman Posted: May.5 at 11:33 am
    Rubio will struggle in the nba! He wouldnt be a factor on any team. He hasnt done anything in barcelona yet, he has basically been carried by juan carlos navaro in the back bourt the last two seasons. He was spectacular as a junior but has failed to impress since!

  • RunNGun Posted: May.5 at 11:57 am
    He’ll be a Timberwolf… guaranteed. Then later on, he’ll be a Knick. Make it happen, Kahlsh.

  • Groves Posted: May.5 at 11:58 am
    if the wolves get him and then draft a centre kanter or valanciunas they will have a nice little core, or trade rubio’s rights and draft irving and then try and get a centre later

  • rich Posted: May.5 at 12:07 pm
    i would die laffing if the wolves draft irving or kemba and rubios signs a 6 year deal with barcelona. they are gonna have a top pick but they cant take irving or williams, they might as well trade the pick for a 2 guard or if they fall pick kanter or burcs.either way they should fire kahn and get rid of flynn or rubio theres no need for both

  • Brandon Posted: May.5 at 12:40 pm
    You can’t just quote the entire article and repost it. Copyright laws you know.

  • izzo Posted: May.5 at 1:34 pm
    He’ll be in the NBA next season…but there won’t be a season.

  • LeBron de Con Posted: May.5 at 2:01 pm
    Spanish police have an arrest warrant out for David Kahn. He has been charged with stalking a certain basketball player named Ricky Rubio.

  • @Deknowz Posted: May.5 at 2:32 pm
    I still don’t see what the hype is about?! I personally never want to hear this kids name unless it’s being announce at an NBA arena. Until then, I couldn’t possibly care less.

  • flipnoyce Posted: May.5 at 2:45 pm
    The way the NBA is revolving around point guards nowadays I can see why Minny is pursuing Rubio hard. Like everyone else’s, I’m anxious to see how he’d fair against pg in our league.

  • The NUPE Posted: May.5 at 5:09 pm
    The TWolves are guranteed a top 4 pick in the draft. So they could be a good young team. The draft isn’t deep but guys like Irving, Williams or Kanter can be difference makers in the NBA. Signing Rubio may give them some flexibility to pass on Irving and pick Williams/Kanter. Or possibly give them the leverage to trade Rubios rights to a team he wants to play for. The knicks could be a good place for Rubio – If he performs to expectations. However he hasn’t been too good lately so his value is down.

  • A l a n Posted: May.5 at 5:41 pm
    if Rubio was a college player in some US college, you would let him decide whats best for him. But he’s spanish, so…
    and I know he decided to go into the draft, but it’s always the same with international players, look Marc Gasol or Serge Ibaka, it was good for them to wait. the NBA should change the salary scales for international players, or at least not consider them rookies, thats a joke

  • BallinEurope, the European Basketball news site » Blog Archive » Timberwolves in Spain: Will Rubio sign contract in May? Posted: May.6 at 5:37 am
    [...] While it seems the Wolves’ intentions may be to get the wunderkind to sign for the 2011-12 season now, a few sticking points remain. There is, of course, that $1 million fee attached to Rubio’s contract and “his family [doesn’t] want it to appear as if he already has a foot out the door to the NBA before ….” [...]

  • Miguel Posted: May.7 at 4:48 am
    Rubio absolutely sucks in the Euroleague. Why on Earth is Khan so obsessed with him?

  • BigJ Posted: May.7 at 10:49 pm
    jennings struggled in europe and he wasnt even playing in the acb, he’s doing pretty good right now aside from his fg%. im sure he’ll be able to incorporate european style ball into the nba

  • SweetPete Posted: May.31 at 11:51 pm
    Why would the T-Wolves want a guy who doesnt even wnana be there??? If I were an owner and I knew a player doesnt like my team and my city, he will NEVER play here. Its like inviting the enemy over for dinner. Just save yourself the embarrassment T-Wolves and trade the kid. It really is embarrassing cuz its exploiting what everybody already knows; and that is: in a perfect world, NOBODY would play for Minnesota.

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